Matthew 19:14 English Standard Version (ESV) but Jesus said, “Let the little children come to me and do not hinder them, for to such belongs the kingdom of heaven.”

Yesterday we spoke about babies and that some of the difficulties associated with recognizing that we do not know anything about kingdom living when we become born again. There is a spiritual awakening, called the quickening, that occurs and it takes time to recognize these changes.

Babies are meant to grow up and the next stage in kingdom living is childhood. Once again, there is the resistance in the flesh to see ourselves in terms of spiritual growth because we have achieved mental growth and some maturity in the world. They are not the same and this can be confusing to some.

People grow at different rates and it might be difficult for others to recognize the initiate’s development from baby to child. Jesus tries to help us understand that transition here in Matthew 19:14.

The first stages of childhood begins with learning to walk. Kingdom children learn to walk with Jesus and learn about Him directly from the Holy Spirit. This will happen because as babies they had a healthy diet of the Word. The healthier the diet the better their spiritual growth. The Holy Spirit will do what He does best without being overly obvious. It takes time for children to understand they are being instructed by the Holy Spirit as they have pastors, teachers and fellow Christians in their lives trying to help them grow in Christ.

The influences of others can hinder the development of those spiritual ears and eyes. Errors in discipleship can come with good intentions because that is the way they were taught. What needs to happen during these first years of childhood is to develop those spiritual ears and eyes to receive instruction directly from the Spirit of Truth.

1 Corinthians 8:2 English Standard Version (ESV) If anyone imagines that he knows something, he does not yet know as he ought to know.

Babies by Larry Perry

1 Peter 2:2 English Standard Version (ESV) Like newborn infants, long for the pure spiritual milk, that by it you may grow up into salvation

1 Peter 2:2 King James Version (KJV) As newborn babes, desire the sincere milk of the word, that ye may grow thereby:

Comparing these two versions allows us to reflect on this thought: “Don’t treat me like a baby.”

When we came to Christ we made a conscious choice. It takes a certain amount of maturity to admit you need a savior. Then some are told they are babes in Christ and that isn’t always received with the same kind of loving attention that is lavished on a newborn. It is interesting to watch the faces of people as they see a friend’s newborn. Grown stout men will sometimes act the fool, not really knowing how to properly enjoy someone else’s baby.

Such is the dilemma of the initiate in Christ. Everyone is joyous and in celebration for this new birth. For most of us it happened so long ago we forgot how it felt. We have lost touch with those first moments of surrender that are fraught with doubt. We didn’t know that we had changed, at least not in the sense of having just entered into the Kingdom of God. Everything looks the same through our natural eyes and like a newborn baby, it takes time to bring things into focus.

Lastly, the issue of the newborn is that everyone wants to hold the baby. Everyone has an opinion of what the baby looks like and some idea connected to what that baby could become when it is grown.

Because the initiate is of an age where they can express themselves in terms of worldly thoughts and feeling it is easy to forget this person knows nothing of kingdom living. It is like reading a travel brochure of a distant land and then upon arriving they discover there is so much more that was not included in the brochure.